A man found guilty of raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl was executed in Missouri, a state in the Midwest, according to prison officials, reports RTE.
Christopher Collings, aged 49, was declared dead at 6:10 PM yesterday (12:10 AM Irish time) at the Bonne Terre state prison, as stated by the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Collings was sentenced for the murder of Rowan Ford, the stepdaughter of a friend, which occurred in November 2007 in the small town of Stella, reports RTE.
Her remains were disposed of in a sinkhole and discovered several days later.
Collings’s legal team sought a last-minute stay of execution from the Supreme Court, but their request was rejected.
The attorneys argued that the police chief, who secured their client’s confession and was the main witness during his trial, had a problematic history and lacked credibility, reports RTE.
Additionally, they claimed that the girl’s stepfather, David Spears, admitted to being involved in her death but was not charged with murder.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson turned down a clemency request from Collings, allowing his lethal injection execution to proceed, reports RTE.
“Mr. Collings has been afforded all protections guaranteed by both the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and his conviction and sentence stand firm for his atrocious and heartless crime,” Mr. Parson stated.
“There has never been any doubt regarding Collings’s participation or the severity of his offenses,” reports RTE.
This year, there have been 23 executions in the United States, including four in Missouri.
The death penalty has been eliminated in 23 out of 50 US states, while six others—Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee—have instituted moratoriums, reports RTE.
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